Nostalgia ain't what it used to be

Universal Health Care

Date: 15 April, 2008

By: Chief

ounds great doesn't it? Indeed it sounds so good that the two remaining Democratic party candidates for president, along with the Democratic National Committee, are pushing it and pushing it hard. Damn near attempting to ram it down the throats of We the People.

When one does think about it, at least on the surface, universal health care sounds like a marvelous idea. As usual, however, the devil is in the details. And no, I am not discussing the Constitutional problem that exists.

Efficiency

That is one major problem. You know it. I know it. And so does Clinton, Obama and the DNC. Currently health care is more or less handled by private companies. Insurance companies primarily, with the federales and the states regulating health care till who laid the rails and kicking in some bucks depending upon the income, health status and employment status of the person seeing the blasted doctor.

Make no doubt our current health care "system" is, at best, a die-saster. But can you imagine the federales taking over our health care system in its entirety? It would be a cluster f**k of incomprehensible proportions. One of the primary reasons medical care costs so God awful much is courtesy of the plethora of regulations — at the federal level and the individual state level as well.

Our federal government employs so many people in so many departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and divisions that no one person knows what in the world is going on. And that is within their purported area of expertise. Additionally the idiots in Congress tend to divide up authority or control over a certain 'thing' among several different federal agencies. Here is a prime example of what I am talking about — when it comes to food production and agriculture in general the Department of Agriculture is not alone in enforcing federal law. To be sure it is a duty shared with or, at the very least, overlapped jurisdiction with the:

Department of the Interior,

Customs Department, and;

Food and Drug Administration.

All four departments have different federal regulations and are responsible for enforcing different aspects of the same frigging law. Can you say "cluster f**k?" Of course you can and so can I for that matter.

A prime example of 'not knowing who's on first' or the 'duh' syndrome is the IRS. During congressional testimony the administrator himself said that no one within the employ of the IRS fully understands the U.S. tax code. Gee, what a warm fuzzy that gives you.

Yet the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama think that the federal government can efficiently manage the nation's health care services. A health care system which would include approximately three hundred million people.

Let's get real — the federal government cannot manage to find its own butt with both hands, a map and a flashlight.

Playing God

That is the real problem right there in a nut shell. What? You don't understand? Lemme 'splain the situation. If the federales take over the nation's health care some unknown, faceless bureaucrat will and shall end up playing God with a citizen's life. I mean that quite literally. Let me provide you with an example — suppose there are four people, each with the same disease or medical condition. These four people are of different ages, ethnic backgrounds and financial status. These four folks need a special operation in order to save and prolong their individual lives. But under the federal regulations and the budget of this grandiose health care system, only one of the four can get the life saving operation. The other three shall die. Period.

Now, who shall it be? Which one of the four is going to get lucky and which three of the four shall get the axe? Who gets to make the decision? Who gets to play God? Who gets to play executioner?

What if one of the four is a middle aged CEO and has made numerous campaign contributions to a member of Congress or to the current resident of the White House. Do you actually think said CEO will not pull on those strings and pull on them hard? Of course he will and I can't really blame him for trying.

But what if one of the four is permanently disabled and, as such, is drawing Social Security and Medicare. What is that person's life worth? Is it worth as much as the already mentioned CEO? You bet it is. Every person's life is priceless, special and unique.

Aah, what if one of the four is a member of Congress. Will that Congressman or Senator receive — hmmm — special treatment? Or will that member of Congress be treated exactly the same as a mere citizen? I think we all know the answer to that one and for those of you who are slow on the uptake — it ain't the latter.

Finally, what if one of the four is a kid or a teenager. What is a kid or a teenager worth? Is a kid or a teenager worth the same as a CEO? Or a member of Congress? Or a disabled person? Do you really want to make that decision? Can you honestly make a distinction?

So what is it going to be, eh? The:

CEO,

Member of Congress,

Disabled person, or;

Kid/teenager?

Which one is going to get lucky? Which three are going to perish?

Make no mistake folks, that is precisely where we are headed if government sponsored universal or nation wide health care becomes becomes medicine du jour. Equal protection and equal application of the law shall mean nothing.

Furthermore if you think that the current health care system is bad — and it is — government run health care shall be far, far and away worse.

Playing God must be left up to God. For she is the only one who is capable of rendering a correct and just decision.